I am an award-winning film director - "The Long Walk Home" and feature film writer (MFA - USC|School of Cinematic Arts); a fine artist and graphic designer (BFA - Pratt Institute); an Adobe Certified Designer (Pace University); and a novelist - "In The Beloved Jonathan Cooke".
I spent three and a half months on a mission trip to Kenya, Burundi, and Israel. I was able to document life in the slums of Kiambio in Nairobi, Kenya; the village of Nyanza Kagan near Lake Victoria in Kenya; missionaries in Bujumbura, Burundi; and the plight of South Sudanese refugees in Arad, Israel, who were being repatriated to their war worn country.
Undoubtedly, the most important work I have ever done was full-time caregiver (2012–2019) to my aging parents; my mother (86) with ALS also known as Lou Gehrigs Disease, and my father (98) with gastric cancer. Both parents died in 2019.
I am, and have always been, an empathetic storyteller, in any medium. I love the process... seeing the underlying message, feeling the pulse of truth, and following where it will lead; then weaving it all into the storyline, the back story, the hidden nuance of every situation, and into each characters' flaws and insights. Much of what I glean may never land on the written page or on the screen, but it will influence what is seen or what is read.
Before my caregiving experience, I thought I could tell an engaging story, however after my parents died, I realized in a new way, why and how I needed to tell any and every narrative. Each story is a glimpse into the human heart and condition, it is a glimmering, reflective facet of that precious gem called “life,” because even when life is long, it is much too short.